


Surprises

by protectchatnoir



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Friends to Lovers, Lots of adorable awkwardness, M/M, Romance, basically a lot of irresponsible decisions really, i wanted to write something, rated for language, reverser was hella gay, skipping class to kiss, skipping school to get coffee, this is what happened
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-25
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2019-06-15 22:01:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 11,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15422532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/protectchatnoir/pseuds/protectchatnoir
Summary: surprise:noun1. an unexpected or astonishing event, fact, etc.verb1. (of something unexpected) cause (someone) to feel mild astonishment or shock.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp I'm back from the endless void that is writer's block ;D

Chapter One

The first time, it was a surprise. A sudden breath of air against his ear and a murmured question.  
_"What are you writing?"_

Marc jumped and dropped his pen, feeling a light blush spread across his face. "N-Nath? I didn't- you made me jump."

Nathanaël ony laughed and bent down to pick up Marc's pen. "Here," he said, and passed it back. "So?"

"So what?"

"What are you writing?"  
Nath jumped up onto the table and dangled his legs off the edge, swinging them slightly. "Something for the next comic?"

"Uh, maybe." Marc tucked a stray lock of hair behind his ear and shut the notebook anxiously. "It's not much good, though."

"Can I read it?"

There was no hesitation in the question; Nathanaël was always so relaxed and bold. Marc found it hard to believe that Nath could ever be as shy as awkward as himself. He'd heard differently from Marinette, who assured him that the artist wasn't always as confident as he seemed. But to Marc, Nathanaël always seemed so sure of himself.

"Um, not right now. It's not finished yet. I need to make some changes. And anyway, I'm going to miss my bus."

Nath shrugged, offering an understanding smile. "I get it. I don't always like showing people my art when it isn't finished. Want me to walk you to the bus stop?"

Marc nodded, and Nath picked up his bag with what could have been a wink. "Alright, let's get going. Wouldn't want you to miss that bus."

 

The second time, Marc didn't let Nathanaël surprise him. He still hadn't let his guard down since his friend snuck up on him the day before, and this time he was half expecting it. He didn't see Nath coming, or hear him, even when he was standing directly behind Marc; instead he somehow _felt_ someone reading his work over his shoulder. That was when he snapped the book shut, receiving a startled gasp in return.

"Nathanaël," he said calmly. "What do you think?"

"I- it's really good! I liked the part where Ladybug tells Chat she can't - how did you know I was behind you?"

Marc just laughed slightly and tapped his nose. "I'm full of surprises."

"Really? What, like psychic powers? How did I manage to sneak up on you yesterday then?"

He shoved Nathan's arm gently and stood up. "Not psychic powers, silly."

"Then _what?_ And how long until you finished writing the next issue of our comic? I can't illustrate it if I haven't read it, you know."

Swinging his bag over his shoulder, Marc grinned. "You're so annoying."

"I know. You love me really, though."

Marc lowered his face in a pathetic attempt to obscure his blush. _Damn it, why did he always blush so easily? Nath obviously didn't mean_ love _love. He clearly just meant that-_

"It'll be done by Thursday, promise."

"What? _Thursday?"_ Nath groaned. "That's _two days_  from now! I can't wait that long."

"Yes, you can. Wanna go grab lunch together?"

Nathanaël glared at him jokingly. "You're mean. I hate you."

And, with a sudden surge of confidence, Marc's grin returned to his face. "No you don't. You _love_ me."

He sauntered out of the art room leaving Nathanaël blushing behind him. _Wow._  That wasn't as hard as he had thought it would be.

It wasn't until he reached the cafeteria that Marc realised that... that may have been flirting.

 _Or_  maybe it was just some friendly banter. That seemed like a much more reasonable idea. After all, why would he flirt with his friend? That would be ridiculous.

Still, he couldn't help thinking about it as he sat down with his food at an empty table. People only flirt when they have romantic feelings, right? And Marc was definitely not romantically interested in Nathan.  
As he tried to distract himself and think of something else, he spotted Nath finally entering the cafeteria. He looked so pretty and- _no._  The artist met Marc's eyes and waved, heading in his direction. Marc leant on his hands and smiled.

Maybe he did see Nath as more than just a friend. But how would he know? Marc hadn't ever really dated anyone before, and he'd never really had many friends. So, sure, he thought about Nathan a lot, but that was because their friendship was important to Marc. And he wanted to spend a lot of time together, but that was perfectly normal considering Nath was such a nice person.

And, sure, Marc had felt a lot happier since he met Nath. He felt less alone.

But that didn't mean he wanted to be his _boyfriend._ That was crazy. Completely and utterly-

"Hey, daydreamer." Nathan slid into the seat across from him. "Whatcha thinking about?"

"You." Fuck. Did he say that out loud? Marc blushed and glanced away. "I mean, uh... _don't..._  you want to get some lunch?"

Nathan raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly. He looked like he wanted to ask about Marc's strange response, but decided not to. "My money is in my bag, which I dumped in my classroom on the way here. I can't be bothered to go and get it."

"D- do you want me to buy some food for you?"

With a shake of his head, Nath reached over and stole a chip from Marc's plate. "I'd rather share yours."

Marc blushed furiously and nodded, not trusting himself to say anything in case he tripped up over his words.

"Hey, you're awfully quiet," Nath said gently. "Is something the matter?"

 _There is absolutely no reason to feel awkward Nath is my friend and nothing more and just because I considered that I may possibly having a small tiny crush on him does not mean I have to go all weird and shy where has my confidence gone just earlier I practically_  flirted _with him but now that I've actually registered the fact that it may have been flirting I'm all awkward and this is not good this is very bad this is not-_

"Marc, you okay there, buddy? Marc! I think you should probably breathe now! You look like you're going to pass out." Nathanaël looked concerned. He placed a hand over Marc's.  
Marc inhaled slowly and stared down at their hands. _They were touching they were touching they were touching they were touching this did not have to be weird it didn't-_

"Marc, what's wrong?" Nath asked softly.

The kind look in the artist's eyes could only strengthen Marc's feelings. Nathanaël wasn't like everybody else - he _cared._  He cared about Marc. He really did.

And maybe that wasn't the best or strongest reason to go _falling in love_ with him, but Marc was being to suspect that his feelings for Nathan were possibly a little less platonic than he'd initially thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh i hope you liked it! I know it's pretty short but maybe next chapter will be a little longer.
> 
> Some updates: Think Fast series hasn't been cancelled or anything, it's just pretty dark and emotionally exhausting to write so like,, I'm taking a break from the angst lmao  
> So we'll have a little fluff before I continue that! The last chapter of one new message should be up relatively soon. Since it's the summer now i have more time for writing so hopefully i can finish a few things off. 
> 
> Then I have a Very angsty steven universe fic, and another less angsty su fic too. 
> 
> Well that's all for now, have a good day!! ;D


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoop im back 
> 
> this is mostly marc stressing about plot (mood) but we have some soft marcthaniel at the end 
> 
> that's the ship name fight me

Chapter Two

When Thursday came around, Marc still wasn't sure he was completely satisfied with his latest piece of writing. He hadn't had much inspiration in the past few days, and something felt off about the latest work in his notebook. It was dull and lifeless. He'd tried everything: listening to music whilst writing, finding quiet places to sit, switching to a different notebook or a fresh page and using different pens. Glittery gel pens usually helped inspire him a little when writer's block kicked in, but not even that was working. Marc had _promised_  Nath he'd have this done by today, and it still was far from perfect.

Which was why he had been up half the night trying to improve it - and why he was in school so early. It was barely eight and he'd been sitting under the stairs for almost an hour already. As more and more people flooded into school and the building was filled with enthusiastic chatter, Marc admitted defeat. He couldn't finish it. Not now, at least. He _really_ didn't want to let Nath down - but Marc was far too tired for this; there was no way he'd be able to write something good enough in the limited amount of time he had.  
Marc bit his lip and tried to repress angry tears. _He just wanted to have something great for Nathanaël. And oh boy, Nath would be so disappointed if Marc didn't have anything for him to illustrate._ Oh, this was a disaster. Maybe he should just go back home and phone in sick.

"Hey, Marc! I almost didn't see you down there. I thought you mostly hang out in the art room now?"

He glanced up to see Marinette a few steps up, bending over the stair railing and looking down at him.

His head was still spinning slightly from trying to come up with a good plot, but he tried his best to reply despite that and the noise from the other students.  
"Oh, Marinette. Hi. Yeah, I just... I'm struggling with the plot for our new comic and I figured finding somewhere else to sit might help." He waved his notebook in the air angrily. "I just don't get it! I'm really stuck here. Ladybug and Chat Noir are so cool! They always defeat whatever it is that's thrown at them effortlessly. I don't know how I'm supposed to create a complex plot with conflict and struggle when they're so great at what they do!"

Marinette moved down the steps and sat next to him. She patted his arm sympathetically. "I get that you're finding this particular piece of writing difficult, but your work is great! Maybe you need to approach it from a different angle?"

"I've been doing that all day. And most of the night - and all of Wednesday, for that matter." Marc groaned. "I've been doing _everything I can_ to change things up and approach it differently. I've changed the villain, I've changed the setting, I-"

 _"Marc._ What I meant was... maybe you should think differently about the _heroes._  What if Ladybug and Chat Noir aren't as awesome as they seem? I mean, sure, they always save the day, of course. But they struggle sometimes too. Sometimes the akumas almost win! They aren't perfect. For starters, Ladybug doesn't always know what to do with her Lucky Charm. The power is really temperamental, y'know?"

Marc frowned at her. "How do _you_ know?"

"What? Oh, um, I just- I just think that Ladybug and Chat are humans too, right? They're people, just like us. So they must find things difficult sometimes, right?"

"I guess so. Hey, what if something was happening in their personal life? Like, say something happened to Ladybug and she can't stop thinking about it and her focus isn't on the fight? So Chat's struggling to fight on his own, and - and then Reverser and Mightillustrator come in to help him out! And then afterwards they find out why Laybug was- hey, I have ideas! Thanks Marinette, you're the best!"

Marinette giggled. "Oh, no problem! But I should probably get to class - I don't wanna be late."

"Okay. Thanks for the inspiration! Hopefully I can have this finished by lunch now."

She frowned at him, suddenly looking concerned. "Marc, I'm not sure you should put a deadline on something like this. Creativity takes time. And plus, you look really tired."

"You don't understand. I promised him I would have it finished by today." Marc sighed. "I don't want to let him down."

"Who, Nathan? Don't be silly, he'll totally understand! If it takes you a little longer than you thought it would, Nath won't mind. He wouldn't want you tiring yourself out for the sake of a silly deadline."

Marc only shrugged. "Yeah, whatever."

"You know Nathan won't think bad of you for having a little writer's block, right?"

"I know. I know it's stupid, I just... I really want to impress him. His opinion means a lot to me, okay?"

Marinette raised an eyebrow. "Sounds to me like you might have a little crush."

Marc felt his cheeks flush and buried his face in his hands. "You should go, you're going to be late," he mumbled through his fingers.

His friend patted his shoulder affectionately with a slight giggle. "Alright, if you say so. Good luck today, Marc."

Even though he knew he should probably follow Marinette's advice and give himself a break from writing, Marc spent most of his morning lessons ignoring the teacher and jotting things down in his notebook. Sure, he was kind of exhausted, but it was worth it - now he had something great to present to Nathanaël. Plus, he could get plently of rest tonight.  
By the time the lesson ended for lunch, Marc was practically falling asleep on his desk. But he left the room with a newfound energy - he had finally finished his writing, and it was time to show Nathan.  
Marc ran all the way to the art room and skidded in. He found Nathanaël sitting at his usual seat, and slammed the notebook down on the table in front of the artist.

"Here! I finished it." Marc collapsed on to the chair next to Nath and rested his head on the table.

"Whoa, Marc, are you okay? You look kind of tired." Nath frowned at him. "Did you sleep okay last night?"

"I stayed up pretty late working on the comic script," Marc told him. "I know how important it is to you. And to me, it's... important. I'm fine, though. Just need some... coffee. And some time to..."  
He trailed off, closing his eyes. Had this table always been so comfortable? He could just go to sleep right here-

"Hey, Marc," Nathan said softly, and Marc opened his eyes. "The comic is important, but it isn't as important as your wellbeing. Don't worry about getting it done on time or whatever. Sleep is way more important. Okay?"

"Mmhmm."

As he slowly closed his eyes again, Marc felt Nathanaël touch his hair softly.

"Here," Nath whispered. "You must be uncomfortable. You can rest your head on this, if you want."  
The artist pressed something soft - his jacket, maybe - against Marc's cheek, and Marc laid his head on it before promptly drifting off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oooooh soft 
> 
> daily reminder to sleep 
> 
> don't stay up cuz u want to impress ur crush 
> 
> don't use this fic to make important life decisions alsajsjaksjadgwh
> 
> okay that's all for now see you really soon :D 
> 
> (Also??? Mightillustrator?? Did i get that right or)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oof im back!! sorry this one took so long, i was gonna post it yesterday or the day before but i got stuck on how it should end, and only finished it today. Ah well, here i am ;D  
> Enjoy!! :)

Chapter Three

He was woken up by someone shaking his shoulder gently  which was followed by a sudden feeling of panic as he raised his head because _holy crap this isn't my bed._

"Hey, it's okay, you're in the art room. You fell asleep."

...Had he said that out loud? Oh. Whoops.

"I finished the initial sketch for the next issue of our comic. The plot was really great!"

Nath touched Marc's shoulder gently, and Marc turned to face him. He found himself looking into Nath's eyes. The artist looked concerned.

"How are you feeling? Well enough to go to class?" the artist asked gently.

"I'm okay." Marc sat up slowly; he felt a little disorientated and his neck was stiff from sleeping in an awkward position. "A bit tired. I'll be fine."

Nath frowned. He didn't look convinced. "How late were you up last night?"

Okay, so maybe Marc had stayed up a little later than he perhaps should have. But it wasn't unusual for him to stay up past midnight. His sleep schedule wasn't particularly sturdy. He understood that sleep was important, but it was so easy to get caught up in a good book or-

 _"Marc._  What time did you go to sleep?"

Marc glanced away and shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe like..."  
He muttered the rest of the sentence under his breath, not loud enough for Nathanaël to hear.

"Excuse me, what was that?"

"I don't know - half three? Four?"  
Marc cringed a little. He could feel Nath's eyes on him.

"Four in the _morning?_  That would've left you with - what, three hours of sleep? Marc, you should _really_  go to sleep earlier than that."

"I know! I know. I just..."  
Marc's voice dropped to a whisper. "I didn't want to let you down."

Nathanaël sighed and touched his hand gently. "Oh, Marc. You could _never_ let me down."

"B- but - the comic-"

"Forget it!" Nath exclaimed. "I mean, don't _forget_ it - it's important, of course it is. But it isn't half as important as _you._ I can't stand to see you like this, Marc. You have to look after yourself. Before anything else, okay?"

With a small nod, Marc met Nath's eye cautiously. "Are you upset with me?" he whispered.

"What? No, no, of course not. I just- I'm... I just really care about you, and I don't want you to sacrifice your own wellbeing for the sake of our project. Which means you get lots of _sleep._ And you get fresh air and exercise and plenty of water and healthy food. Did you eat breakfast this morning?"

Marc smiled slightly. "You sound like my mother. Oh my god, Nath, we're going to be so late! Classes start in-" he checked his watch- "five minutes ago!"

Nathan shook his head. "Whatever. We're not going to class. Let's skip lessons and... I don't know, go get donuts."

"Okay, you're- you're sounding less like my mother now. Are you sure that skipping class is a good idea?"

"No. It's a terrible idea. Let's go!"

As they left school, Marc felt uneasy. This was  _definitely_  not allowed. "What if we get caught?" he whispered, glancing over his shoulder.

"We won't. Just act casual and no one will even notice us." Nathanaël stopped walking and turned, taking Marc's hand. "Listen, sometimes self care is sneaking out of school to buy donuts. And coffee - man, you look exhausted."

"But we'll be in so much trouble if someone finds out!"

"Will we, though? I don't think either us have ever gotten into trouble before. We're good students; if we do get caught, they'll probably go easy on us!"

Marc shrugged, blushing slightly as he realised they were _holiding hands._  "Isn't it... uh... a health and safety thing though?"

_"What?"_

"You know, the... if there's a fire, or... and - they don't know where we are?"

Nath sighed. "You're a teenager, Marc. Live a little!"

Maybe Nath was right. Marc had never broken a single rule in his life; maybe it was time to let loose and skip school to eat a donut with his cr- _friend._

He made a mental note to have a talk with Marinette. How on _earth_  did she deal with her huge obvious crush on Adrien? Not- not that he actually had a _crush_ on Nath, that would be- totally not what was... he totally wasn't- _that wasn't-_

No, Marc _totally_  didn't have a crush on Nathanaël. Despite the fact that he literally couldn't even _think_  straight around him, let alone hold a coherent conversation.

He was just as bad as Marinette.

No - worse.

(He tried to stop himself from thinking "you can't think straight because you _aren't_ straight".)

(He didn't succeed. He thought it anyway.)

(He knew that it was the truth.)

"Marc? We- we can just go back to school, if you don't want to-"

"No way. Okay, let's do it. Let's go to the nearest Starbucks or something and buy some donuts. I'm still not really sure why you want donuts, but-"

Nathan laughed and punched the air. _"Alright!_  Let's be rebels for the afternoon!"

"Nath, we're always rebels. On the inside."

"Damn, you're right. How did I not see this before?"  Nathanaël laughed and took hold of Marc's again. They kept walking until they were quite a way away from the school. "Okay. You, my friend - my beautiful yet sleep deprived friend - need some coffee, stat. Do you want to go to Starbucks or-  _Ladybug?"_

Holy crap holy _shit_ Nath had just called him beautiful _Nathanaël just literally called him beautiul holy fucking-_

Marc tried to focus on the question, willing himself to _stop goddamn blushing._. What was the question, again? Starbucks or... Ladybug? _Ladybug?_  What?  
"I don't think Ladybug sells coffee, Nathanaël," he said, confused.

"Forget about coffee! I thought I just saw- up there, look!"

Following Nath's gaze, Marc just about caught glimpse of someone clad in red leaping over a roof.  
Nathan turned back to Marc, his eyes sparkling with excitement. "It _is_ Ladybug! Come on, Marc, let's follow her!"

"Okay, this is _definitely_  not a good idea. Where there are superheroes, there are scary evil people who _literally want to kill us._ Can't we just get donuts? Skipping school to get donuts seems a lot less dangerous."

His protests were in vain; Nath was already running down the street in attempt to catch up to the superhero.

"Guess we're doing this then," Marc muttered to himself - but he couldn't help feeling a _little_  excited. Maybe they would have fun? Maybe they would get to talk to Ladybug, which would be cool. Marc liked Ladybug. He knew that Marinette was right - behind the mask was a human being _just like him._

He smiled.

Maybe this was a good idea, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *EYES EMOJI* 
> 
> hmmmmmm hmm hm 
> 
> okay so that was... yeah haha
> 
> First off i wanna say a hUGE thank you to everyone who has read this, left kudos, commented, sent nice messages on tumblr, drawn fANART (i literally screamed it was amazingggggg tysm!!!)  
> Honestly I've been so overwhelmed by the extremely positive response! I wasn't really expecting much to be honest, but everyone's being super nice about it and it's already gone up to 3rd in my statistics which is wild!!  
> You guys are amazing, thank you all so much. Literally y'all inspire me to write so much?? Like I see new comments in my inbox and that's enough to make me wanna write more, even when i have writer's block. The positivity and support just motivates me to right and i appreciate every single one of you so so much!!! <3333 
> 
> Also, riGHT NOW I'M GONNA SAY THAT COFFEE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR SLEEP SO IF IT'S 2AM RIGHT NOW AND YOU'RE READING THIS, get some water and go to sleep you beautiful nerd 
> 
> finally, don't skip school to get starbucks, kids 
> 
> My tumblr should be down in the notes below if you wanna find me there! I also have Pinterest which is @kittychatnoir too, and if you wanna check out my other fics i would really appreciate that!! :D :D 
> 
> (also. appreciate Nath being a rebel it is very very Important thank you bye)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow it's been Quite Some Time askakskakd
> 
> No really tho sorry for taking so long!! i was hoping to get this up the day after chapter 3 but then i got hit with writer's block and... yknow how it be sometimes :P 
> 
> Ah well, here i am back with another chapter!! hope you like it ;D

Chapter Four

"Chat Noir, _catch!"_

Marc skidded round the corner of a building just in time to see some akumatized object flying through the air; Chat Noir caught it and it crumbled to dust. _Chat's cataclysm powers were so cool._  
As Ladybug purified the akuma and released the white butterfly, Marc spotted Nathanaël standing a few metres away from him.  
_"Nath,_  come on, we should go. They're probably busy, we should get out of the way and not bother them-"

"Don't be silly, Marc, they just purified the akuma! I just wanna say hi and maybe tell them about our latest comic! Hey, Ladybug, Chat Noir!"  
Before Marc could stop him, Nathanaël was waving wildly at the two superheroes. Chat Noir was distracted talking to the recovering akuma victim, but Ladybug walked over and smiled.

"Hey, guys! How come you-"  
She paused, and her smile turned into a frown. "Hey, shouldn't you two be in school?"

Nath looked dismayed. "I mean, technically, yeah. But Marc is a massive idiot and he stayed up all night writing for our newest comic and I figured skipping school to get coffee and donuts seemed like a reasonable... reason. To skip school." He trailed off awkwardly, but Ladybug laughed warmly and patted Nath's arm.

"Okay, that's fair enough. Your secret is safe with me." The spotted superhero turned to Marc and gave him a sympathetic smile. "Try to get some proper sleep tonight, okay?"

Marc nodded. "I will. Thank you, Ladybug."

Her earrings bleeped suddenly and her hand flew up to her ears. "I'd love to see your new comic when it's finished! You two make a great team. Well, if you're looking for a place to get some food, I always did like the Tom and Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie." Ladybug gave them one last warm smile and a slight wink. "I should get going. Catch you later!"  
She swung up and over the top of a nearby building, and was soon out of sight.

"Tom and Sa- hey, isn't that the bakery where Marinette lives?" Marc speculated.

"Yeah, that's right. I've only been there a few times, but everything they make is really great."

"Are you guys  _skipping school?"_

Marc's head flew up in shock. His eyes met Chat Noir's. Chat was smirking mischievously and twirling his baton in one hand. "Don't worry, I'm not going to tell anyone. Did I here you say you were going to Tom and Sabine's?"

Nath and Marc nodded.

"I love that place. Mind if I come with? I could really use a-"  
Chat's ring bleeped urgently and he glanced down at it with a small frown. "Darn it. I could've really used a croissant. Ah well, maybe another time. TTFN!"  
The superhero leapt into the air and onto the roof of the closest building and over, disappearing from view.

"We just had a long conversation with Ladybug. And then with Chat Noir." Nathan blinked slowly and then turned to Marc and shook his shoulders slightly. "Marc! We just had a conversation with both Ladybug and Chat! That was wild!"

"So what? We've met them before," Marc mumbled with a shrug. "It's not like they're super secret amazing-"

 _"Marc!_ We just- oh my gosh this is so exciting! Both of them said how they love this particular bakery - wouldn't that be a great plot for one of our stories? Like, the superheroes of Paris just hanging out and drinking coffee and- oh, this is so exciting!"

"Nath, calm down. They're superheroes, but they're people too. Chances are, they do all the normal human stuff we do. So they probably go to cafés and stuff. Big deal."

Marc thought back to what Marinette had said to him earlier that day.

_Maybe you need to approach it from a different angle?_

Everyone in Paris did tend to idolize the two superheroes. What if Marinette was right? They were just normal people with their own lives. 

_I just think that Ladybug and Chat are humans too, right? They're people, just like us._

He frowned. What if Marinette _did_  know more than she let on? He had suspected her of keeping secrets before - Marc found it easy to pick up on other people's emotions. He realised she had a hopeless crush on Adrien, of course, but there was something underneath that, too. What if she was hiding something? What if she knew the superheroes' secret identities? What if she _was-_

No, it was ridiculous. He was getting carried away. Marc shoved his thoughts of Marinette and Ladybug and Chat Noir to one side, at least for the time being.  
Right now was about him and Nathanaël. Right now he would focus on himself and Nathanaël and how he was desperately trying to ignore the fact that he got butterflies every time he saw Nathanaël and blushed every time they accidentally brushed hands and how he blushed even more when Nath took hold of his hand on _purpose-_ which was what the artist did now, carefully lacing their fingers together in the most soft and gentle way.

"You okay, Marc?" Nath asked softly. "Sorry if I got way too over enthusiastic with Ladybug and Chat."

It was hopeless. He couldn't ignore the fact that- that _he_  was hopeless. Marc maybe probably _definitely_ had a huge hopeless crush on Nathan and that was just how things were.

So Marc squeezed Nath's hand gently and smiled at him, staying as calm and blush-free as possible.

(It didn't work.)

(He blushed a lot.)

(Damn, why was eye contact so difficult?)

"I love your enthusiasm, Nath. Don't ever apologise for that." 

The two of them held their gaze until it was almost uncomfortable, and Marc glanced away, blushing. He squeezed Nathan's hand one more time and started walking in the direction of Marinette's parents' bakery. "Come on," he said with a smile. "Let's go get some coffee."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EEEEE they are adorable i cry 
> 
>  
> 
> So guys this fic honestly took off a lot better than i expected??? i've only posted the first 3 chapters (4 now obviously) and it already has the 2nd highest number of kudos out of all my fics! Like wow guys?! Tysm??? :D 
> 
> all of your feedback is so amazing and appreciated and it really inspires me to write more, so thank you sooo much everyone i love y'all T_T 
> 
> Have a great day/night and see ya next chapter ;D 
> 
> (also for those of u wondering TTFN = ta ta for now don't @ me lmao)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy everybody i am bACK with another chapter!! and it's only been like 3 days!! how unlike me *thinking emoji* *but also finger guns*

Chapter Five

The next time Nathanaël snuck up on him, Marc hadn't been expecting it.  
He was in the art room early on Friday morning, wanting to get an early start on the next issue of the comic after having had a decent amount of sleep for once. Class wouldn't start for at least another fifteen minutes. He was completely focused on his work, and certainly wasn't expecting somebody to come up behind him and wrap their arms around his shoulder.

He may have screeched a little.

"Whatcha writing?" Nath asked, resting his head on Marc's shoulder and trying to read the words Marc had been scrawling in his notebook. Marc promptly slammed the book shut and turned around to glare at Nathanaël.

"You made me jump," he said, pouting, but couldn't keep up his act of frustration for long because _oh god Nathanaël looked beautiful._  Marc couldn't help but grin at Nathan, who looked as if he'd just fallen out of bed with his hair all fluffy and dishevelled and _oh god he was so pretty._

"Maybe you should have been paying more attention to your surroundings then," Nath quipped back with a smile. He sounded kinda tired. "Seriously though, what are you writing?"

Marc shrugged, and slipped his notebook into his bag. "Nothing much, just a few ideas for our next comic."

"Ooh! Can I read it?"

"No." Marc stood up and swung his bag over his shoulder. "When it's finished, sure. Right now it's just a bunch of notes."

Nath laughed. "That's fair enough. I'll look forward to reading it."

"Mm. Hey, Nath? Are you okay? You look pretty tired."

"I didn't sleep very well. But I'll be okay; don't you worry about me." He offered his hand to Marc, which the writer took and squeezed affectionately. "Walk me to class?"  


When they arrived at Nathanaël's classroom, it was empty, apart from-

 _"Chloé,"_  Nath muttered, and pulled a face. She was sitting on a desk across the room talking to her friend. Marc placed his hand on Nath's arm gently.

"Hey, just ignore her," he whispered. Chloé and her friend who Marc couldn't remember the name of seemed to be pretty deep in conversation anyway. "It's not like she's bothering us, right?"

Maybe he'd spoken too soon.

"Oh, look. If it isn't dweeb one and dweeb two." Chloé laughed at her own joke (if you could even call it a joke) and her friend joined in with her laughter. "What are you two _losers_ even doing here, anyway?"

"This is my _classroom,_  Chloé," Nath said through gritted teeth.

"Um, whatever. Can't you see that we are having a private conversation? Anyways, your _boyfriend_ shouldn't be in here. It's not his classroom."

B- _boyfriend?_

Marc felt himself starting to blush and he willed himself desperately to _stop, no don't blush, don't make this more embarrassing than it already is._

"Class doesn't start for a little while, and there's no rule saying Marc can't be in here," Nathanaël said calmly.

_Oh shit holy heck how was he so calm about this?_

Chloé glared at the two of them. "Whatever. Brush your hair, loser." She turned back to her friend. "As I was _saying-"_

Letting Chloé's rambling fade into the background, Marc turned his attention back to Nath, who looked pretty pleased with himself.

"Did you see that? I totally defended us! That was awesome!" Nathan exclaimed. 

Marc couldn't help but grin at his friend's enthusiasm. "You were amazing."

_You are amazing._

_Stop blushing stop blushing stop blushing._

Nath shot him a puzzled look. "Hey, are you alright? You look a little... uh... spaced out."

_Oh no his eyes were so kind and concerned and pretty and oh god oh no-_

"Marc?"

_-oh god oh god Nathan was so beautiful and Marc wanted nothing more than to kiss him softly and run his fingers through his hair - oh, his hair, god it was so cute and it looked adorably messy today and it looked so soft and fluffy and-_

Before he could even realise what was happening, Marc reached up to gently touch the other boy's hair. Nath's eyes widened in surprise.  
"Uh, Marc?"

_Oh no oh no he fucked up he fucked up._

Marc's hands flew to his cheeks which were burning with embarrassment and _oh god no did he really just do that? He really just touched Nathanaël's hair oh god oh god no that was so awkward._  
And apparently Chloé was paying attention again now and was finding the whole situation entirely hilarious, as she and her friend were laughing- _oh god they were laughing at him._

 _"Oh my god I'm so sorry,"_  Marc squeaked. _"Gotta go see you later bye!"_

He sprinted out of the classroom as fast as he could and slammed the door behind him. He leant against the wall outside and breathed heavily. _Oh shit._ He'd really messed up this time.

"Marc! Are you okay?"

Marc glanced up to see Marinette looking at him anxiously.

"M- Marinette? What are you doing here?" Marc squealed, surprised.

"I'm going to class. Is everything okay?"

 _"No!_  I humiliated myself in front of everyone and now I'm going to have to move schools and get a new phone and - oh, what if we bump into each other outside of school? I'll just have to leave Paris then. No, I'll leave France. That way there's no chance of-"

"Marc. What happened?"

"I touched his hair," Marc muttered, not quite meeting Marinette's eyes.

"What was that? I can't hear you."

_"I touched his hair!"_

_"What?_  You touched whose hair?" 

 _"Nathanaël's!_  And now my life is over! Sorry Marinette, I've got to go. If he tries to follow me, distract him!"

"Wait, Marc!-"

He ran past her as fast as possible and made his way to the art room. At least he felt safe and comfortable there.  
When he reached the room he skidded to a stop and went inside.

"Ah, hello Marc. Can I help you with something?"

Marc looked up to see the art teacher smiling at him kindly. "No. Yes! Oh god, I really messed up."

"Oh dear, that doesn't sound good. What's the problem?"

"I touched Nathanaël's hair! Like, his hair looked really soft and nice and I just kind of..."  
Marc threw his arms in the air dramatically. _"I touched his hair!_ Like a creepy... creep!"

The art teacher chuckled slightly. "Come on now, that isn't so bad."

"How is it not bad?! He probably thinks I'm a total _weirdo_ now!"

"Why don't you just talk to him? Being able to talk to each other in situations like this is a very important aspect of every relationship, you know. Communication is key."

Maybe he was right. Maybe Marc could just talk to Nathanaël and explain that- _wait._ 'Relationship'? Did he mean that as a friendship relationship or a _relationship_ relationship?

Crap.

He was in too deep.

"Uh, thanks, sir, I'll talk to him. Sorry for bothering you."

"That's perfectly okay, Marc, you weren't bothering me. I do have a class starting in a few minutes though. Why don't you run along to your lesson now?"

Marc nodded and turned to leave the room. As soon as he was out of the door he crashed into a-  
_"Nathanaël?"_

"Marc! I knew I'd find you here. Listen, you don't need to feel embarrassed or anything! You ran off so quickly I didn't get a chance to say anything, but I'm not bothered about you touching my hair. It's not weird, it was... actually kinda cute."

_Holy shit. Nath just called him cute._

"Uh, we should probably go to our classrooms. We're going to be late otherwise."

 _"Marc._ Can't we talk about this for a minute?"

"But we're going to be-"

_Being able to talk to each other in situations like this is a very important aspect of every relationship, you know. Communication is key._

Marc shrugged. "Okay, we- we can talk."

There was a moment of awkard silence between them, before they both started talking at the same time.

"Look, I have no idea what came over me-"

"It really isn't a big deal if-"

Nathan laughed quietly. "You go first."

"I'm so sorry, I don't know what I was thinking. Actually, that isn't true; I know exactly what I was thinking. I was thinking _'hey, Nathanaël's hair looks nice. It looks soft!'_  and then my brain kinda switched off and... you know the rest. I'm sorry, that's so weird and-"

"It's not weird. God, Marc, you're adorable."

_Adorable adorable adorable oh holy hell what did Nath just call him did- did he just call him adorable? Oh god oh god oh god Nathan thought he was adorable._

(Marc tried to stop himself from blushing.)

(It didn't work. As per usual.)

"W- we're going to be late for class," Marc stammered.

"Whatever, screw class. Class can wait. Marc, I- I don't even..."  
Nath ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. "I don't even know what to say, I just... I really..."  
He groaned. "Marc, I really like you and I- god, I want to kiss you. Can I kiss you?"

_Holy fuck good god Nath wanted to kiss him holy-_

Marc blinked in surprise. _Did Nath really like him like... that?_ Whatever. He nodded desperately.

Nath grinned and took hold of Marc's face in his hands and kissed his lips softly.

And it was everything Marc had imagined it would be.

(Not that he was going to admit that he'd been imagining it.)

The kiss was soft and sweet and _perfect,_ and lasted a few seconds before Nath pulled away.

"Hi," the artist whispered.

"Hi," Marc repeated with a shy laugh.

"That was... wow. I... Marc, I... oh, god, I don't know what to say." Nathan laughed awkwardly, and Marc joined in.

"Me neither. Wow, I... holy... oh my god. That was..."

"Perfect?" Nath supplied helpfully.

"Hell, yes."

"Maybe we can do it again sometime?"

"How about right now?"

"But we have class."

"Class can wait." Marc grabbed Nathanaël's shoulders and pulled him in for another kiss.

And time seemed to stop, and it was slow, and still.

And _perfect._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OHOHOHOHO 
> 
> BET YA WEREN'T EXPECTING THAT 
> 
> *cough* i've been writing angst for so long idek what fluff is so sorry if it was too awkward *cough* 
> 
> askaksjaksoal i hope you liked it!! guys thank you so much for all the kudos and comments and love. there's been an incredibly overwhelmingly positive response to this fic and all of your comments are so sweet!! genuinely like seeing your feedback is one of the main things that inspires me, so tysm! 
> 
> also, Surprises recently went up to #1 top kudos out of all my fics which is wild!! thank you all so so much honestly idek what to say asklsankdlakslala 
> 
> Well hopefully i'll see you very soon with the next chapter! Bye!! :D


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which marc is pretty gay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaa i'm back! sorry for the long wait for this chapter,,, i got pretty bad writer's block and haven't been feeling great for a little while, but huh i rlly wanted to get another chapter of this out. 
> 
> since my brain didn't really wanna cooperate, this chapter is p short and might seem kinda forced?? idk but anyway i tried my best so i hope u like it nonetheless!! :) 
> 
> this is just like,, repercussions of last chapter?? idk lol

Chapter Six

There were a thousand thoughts spinning around in Marc's mind as he pulled away from Nath, primarily _'holy shit, i just kissed Nathanaël'_.

_Twice._

And then almost immediately afterwards, _'holy shit, this is awkward as fuck, what am I supposed to do now?'_

But Nath looked like he was thinking the same thing, as he laughed awkwardly and moved backwards a little.

"Wow," Nathanaël said, and grinned nervously.

"Wow," Marc repeated. "Okay. So... um, what now?"

"Honestly? I have no idea. I've, uh... I've never done this before."

 _"Really?"_  
He was a little surprised, to say the least. Nath sure seemed to know exactly what he was doing, other than the slight awkwardness.

Okay, maybe it was more that slightly awkward, but-

"Uh, me neither. You're the first boy I've kissed. Actually, you're the first person I've ever kissed. I've never kissed a girl, either. Actually, I'm pretty gay."

Nathanaël laughed. "Really? I hadn't noticed at all."

"Are you being sarcastic?"

"Yeah, dude, your shirt is a literal rainbow. That is pretty gay."

"Righlt! Right, it's- okay. Yeah. Okay. Uh... so, uh, we kissed, and... wow. I don't- god, this is super awkward. Oh god, I'm so embarrassing."

"You're not _embarrassing._  You're _adorable."_

Marc squeaked in embarrassment and shook his head. "I am _not._ I'm- I'm awkward, and-"

Nath cut him off by grabbing both of his hands and staring him in the eye. "Listen. This is kinda awkward, but that's normal, right? I've never done this before, you've never done this before - we have no idea what we're doing. And that's okay. We'll figure it out, right?"

Reluctantly, Marc nodded. He _wanted_ to figure it out  - but he knew that it would probably be an awkward, difficult process. "Okay," he said quietly. "We can figure this out. Uh, maybe we should start by agreeing not to skip class to kiss and stuff."

"Sounds good to me," Nathan agreed with a grin. "So... that means we're going to do this again?"

"Do what again? Skip class? No. I thought we just agreed that."

 _"Kiss,_  I mean. You basically said that you want to do it again."

Marc raised an eyebrow, feeling himself start to blush yet again. "When did I say that?"

"You said we should agree not to 'skip class to kiss and stuff'. That implies that you want to kiss me again."

"That's stupid, Nath. All I meant was that skipping class is a bad idea." Marc glanced down at his hands, still linked with Nathan's. "But, yeah, maybe kissing again wouldn't be so bad. I guess I'd be down for that."

"Marc, you're an idiot. I love you."

Marc froze. He- _what?_

"You mean that?" he asked quietly, and Nathan blushed.

"Yeah, I- I think so?"

"You think so?"

"No, I do. I really do. But, uh, I feel like it's way too soon to say something like that. Oh, god, did I mess up? Are we... moving too quickly?"

"No, Nathan. Not at all. It's fine." Pausing to carefully consider which words to use, Marc took a deep breath before continuing. "I... love you too. I think."

_That wasn't so bad._

"You think?"

"Heh. Sorry. Sorry, I'm new to this."

Nathanaël grinned. "But that makes two of us, right?"

Marc nodded, and the two of them fell into a moment of comfortable silence. After a little while just staying quiet, Nath spoke up again.

"So... what do you think we should do now? Like, moving forwards, I mean. Is it... have we... I mean, are we just going to pretend it never happened? Or... do you wanna, like... date, or something?"

 _Oh no. Marc hadn't really thought about that yet._ What _did_  he want to do? Honestly, he had no idea. He'd never ever done anything like this before. He'd never been in a relationship before. And neither had Nathanaël - what were they going to do?

Okay, okay, this wasn't a complete disaster.

They could figure it out. They would figure this out.

"Maybe..." Marc began hesitantly. "Maybe we could just... take it slow and see how things go?"

Nath looked relieved. "That sounds like a good idea. We could... y'know, just... keep things as they are, right? Nothing has to change. We can just be normal."

"Right. Normal is good. Although, honestly I wouldn't be opposed to the whole kissing thing becoming normal." Marc immediately buried his face in his hands, and Nath started laughing. Holy heck, that was a kind of embarrassing thing to say. _Stop blushing stop blushing stop blushing._

"No, I totally agree," Nath said when he'd finished laughing, and gently removed Marc's hands from his face. "Hey, look. We're going to be okay, okay?"

Marc nodded. "Okay."

And Nathan leaned close and pressed his lips gently to Marc's. He pulled away when the bell rang and students began flowing out into the corridor.

"We should probably go to our classes," Marc said loudly over the noise of all the people going past.  Nath nodded, and moved away.

"I'll see you later," the artist said with a smile before joining the flow of students and disappearing from view.

Before leaving to go to his next lesson too, Marc remained in the same spot for a minute, a little dazed from everything that had happened over the past hour. 

 _He kissed Nathanaël._  Marc still couldn't quite believe it.

But it had happened, and it was amazing and crazy and unreal - and it was perfect.

He couldn't help but grin as he walked to his next class. Nathanaël made him feel so good about himself - he wasn't just some shy, awkward writer. He was so much more. Nath really cared about and appreciated him. And he really cared about appreciated Nath.

And Marc didn't feel like just... _hiding in the shadows_  anymore. He wanted to dance and sing and yell about how happy he felt. It was amazing, really.

For once in his life, Marc felt like he was really worth something. Things were better now. He wouldn't have to hide the way he felt anymore - because Nathanaël felt the same way about him.

_Nathanaël loved him._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oooooof 
> 
> ngl this chapter was really difficult to write. it took me agessss and ??? idk i had writer's block but aLSO this chapter is like??? super awkward and embarrassing??? i'm not very good at writing fluff, hence my usual angst, so this whole chapter just felt rlly awkward aksjsjdjajda i get quite bad second hand embarrassment from stuff like this so i guess that could be why 
> 
> ahahaha anyway, i hope u enjoyed itttt!  
> i'll try to get another chapter out soon, we'll see how it goes :P


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> lol gay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaa tysm for all your kind words last chapter!! the last chapter was kinda hard to write for some reason, but this one came super naturally to me so i guess i'm getting over the writer's block! :D 
> 
> So yeahhh i hope u like this chapter!!

Chapter Seven

"Hey, so - I've been _thinking."_

Marc yelped and looked over his shoulder to find Nathanaël grinning devilishly. _Oh, lord, that was the face of somebody who was plotting something outrageously stupid. Like skipping school to get donuts._  
The writer sighed, and closed his notebook. "You were _thinking?_ Well, I was _thinking_ too. I was thinking that you should _definitely stop sneaking up on me like that."_

School had finished for the day, but Marc was sitting in the art room, working on a story. There had been a few other kids in there working on their own projects, but lessons had ended a good half hour ago, and the other students had all left now.  
He was the only one still there, and he hadn't heard Nath enter the room, so it took him completely by surprise.  
What was he doing still in school anyway? Unless he'd been in detention or something, which was honestly completely entirely unrealistic.

Probably.

Marc pouted as he packed up his things, and Nathan smiled apologetically.

"Sorry. Did I distract you from your work or something?" the artist asked.

"No, I was just finishing up, actually. You made me _jump."_

Again. Would Nathan ever learn? Honestly, probably not.

Nonetheless, Marc couldn't help but return Nath's smile; whatever his friend (...boyfriend? Oh god.) was planning, he was obviously excited - his eyes sparkled in a way that Marc now recognised as the makings of some kinda of mischievous plot.

"What are you planning?" he asked in a jokingly accusatory manner. "It had better not be something illegal."

"Marc! I would never plan something _illegal!_  You've got the wrong idea. I'm sweet and innocent."

Marc snorted. "Sweet and innocent, yeah."

"Seriously. I'm being serious! I've been thinking. About us."

It was only then that Marc detected the subtle hint of nervousness in Nathan's eyes.

"Okay," he said softly, trying to seem relaxed and reassuring. He must have succeeded at least somewhat, as Nath seemed to relax a little, and pulled himself up onto the table. Nath had a habit of sitting on the table rather than just pulling up another chair like anyone else would. It made Marc smile slightly. "What is it that you were thinking?"

Nath kicked his legs distractedly and seemed to think about what he wanted to say for a moment. "Okay. So, uh, y'know when we went to get coffee and donuts?"

"Yeah?"

"That was kinda like a date, right?"

A _what?!_

"Wh- _what?"_ Marc stammered. 

"Wait, no, I mean - okay, it wasn't _actually_  a date, but it was the same kinda stuff that you would _do_ on a date."

"Oh, right. Yeah, I guess so - why?"

Nathan paused and glanced away, averting eye contact. "Um... what if we, uh... did something like that again? Except maybe this time, we could... call it a date?"

It took a little while for it to sink in, but - _Nath was asking him out._ On a _date._

"Wow. You mean like... a _date_ date?"  
Honestly he couldn't think of anything better to say. But Nath nodded enthusiastically, if a little anxiously.

"Sure! I mean, it would be super chill and casual. It would be, like, just the same as the other day. Except we'll call it a date. It doesn't have to be any different - and it's just an experiment, you know? If we don't like it, we can just call it 'hanging out' again. Oh, I know we agreed to take things super slow - but I figured it would be cool to explore this! What do you think?"

Marc smiled. "Yeah. Yeah, I think I'd like that. I mean, nothing would really change, right?"

"Right," Nath confirmed with a small nod. "Okay! So, when do you want to do it?"

"Well, I have a bunch of homework to get done," Marc said hesitantly, suddenly unreasonably nervous. He fought the urge to lift his hood and pull the strings tight to hide his face.

 _He didn't have to hide._  He was perfectly safe with Nathanaël, and although this particular stage of their friendship (relationship?) was rather awkward, they'd figure it out and eventually get through to more solid ground.

At least, he hoped so.

"Okay, lots of homework," Nath said, nodding. "So I guess tonight's out of the question. How about tomorrow after school?"

 _Don't be nervous, don't be nervous, don't be nervous._ This wasn't easy, but it would be fine.  
"Sure, that sounds great!" Marc answered with a big smile.

This would be fine.

Nath grinned; he jumped down from the table, then picked up Marc's bag and handed it to him. "Want me to walk you home?" he asked, already taking Marc's hand.

Marc laughed softly. "But it's not even on the way for you, right?"

"Hey, I don't mind taking a small detour for my-"  
Nath froze. So, apparently he was wondering thw same thing that Marc was - what exactly was their relationship? Friends? Best friends? Extremely close friends?

_...Boyfriends?_

_Don't panic, don't panic, don't panic._ It was a little complicated right now, but they would work through it together.

"Hey. We don't have to make a decision yet," Marc said softly, and Nath looked relieved.

"Right," the artist agreed. "We can do this at our own pace. "We don't have to worry about anything right now."

Nathanaël was right - for the time being, at least, they didn't have to even think about the finer details of their relationship.

For now, they cared about each other deeply, and that was all that mattered. If they weren't quite ready to make a decision or commit fully to a relationship yet, that was fine. And if they weren't quite sure where the line was between 'friends' and 'boyfriends', that was okay too. They didn't have to think about that right now.

(Even so, Marc had a feeling that they'd crossed that line already.)

(In fact, they were probably quite a long way over that boundary by now.)

Ah, well. They had plenty of time to figure it out. For now, they were happy, and that was perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!
> 
> :D i had a lot of fun writing this one so i hope you enjoyed it!! See you soon!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY EVERYONE!!! hi! i'm back with another chapter!! *wink wink* 
> 
> okay so uhhhh,,,,, PLease don't come after me, this chapter got a little aaaangsty :P
> 
> Basically i kinda got writer's block again and y'know what i do when i get writer's block, i throw the characters into an awful situation because i am cRUEL :D MWAHAHAHAHA 
> 
> AAAANywayyyyy... yeah so it gets a little angsty but don't worry, things will sort themselves out. 
> 
> probably. 
> 
> aheh 
> 
>  
> 
> also i wanna say a hUUUUGE thank you to everyone who has left kudos or comments or bookmarked it etc  
> this fic recently hit 400 kudos, which i'm so grateful for y'all don't even know fkhhjsjfs it's now officially my Most Popular Fic Ever which is super exciting!! 
> 
> i really hope you like this chapter, and tysm for reading!!! :D
> 
> ****************  
> oh trigger warning i guess???? With as few spoilers as possible, if ur afraid of elevators or smth u may wanna skip this chapter?? or if ur not sure just shoot me a message on tumblr and i can summarise for u  
> *****************

Chapter Eight

It was _supposed_ to be their first official _date_ date. The plan was to get the bus to an indoor shopping centre not too far away; they would have a look around some shops and get pretzels from the pretzel stand in the shopping centre.

However, it all went horribly wrong.

The date itself was supposed to be after school, but after getting set unreasonable amounts of homework all week, they decided to postpone it until the weekend. This wasn't exactly a problem, though; it would at least allow them to spend a little more time together, since they had the whole afternoon rather than just a couple of hours.

When Marc and Nathanaël met at the bus stop on Saturday afternoon, it was raining heavily. The sky was heavy with grey clouds, seemingly getting dark already, despite it only being early afternoon. This wasn't unexpected, since storms had been predicted all week - and it wouldn't really inconvenience them. The shopping centre was completely indoors; it wouldn't be a problem.

In fact, everything was going relatively smoothly. The bus ride was pleasant enough, even though both Nath and Marc were a little nervous to begin with. But after a little while, they both relaxed, and felt more comfortable in each other's company.

And when they arrived, the two of them spent half an hour looking around the shops. It was nice - it didn't feel too intense, but spending the time with each other outside of school felt nice.

It was only when they decided to take a break from their shopping to get pretzels that things started to derail. Nathan and Marc got in the elevator to go upstairs to the pretzel stand. 

But as soon as it had started moving, the elevator suddenly jerked to a stop, and they were plunged into darkness. Marc's breath caught in his throat. _Why was it suddenly dark? This wasn't right._

After an agonisingly long few seconds of nothing but the sound of blood rushing in his ears, a very dim green light flickered on, illuminating the inside of the elevator a little. Marc exchanged a worried look with Nathanaël.

"I guess the storm must've cause a power outage or something," Nath said quietly. He looked scared.

_Oh, god, why couldn't they have just taken the stairs?_

"Y- yeah, I guess so." His voice came out sounding a lot weaker than he'd intended it to. Marc paused, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself.

This would be fine.

"What should we do?" he asked, his voice still shaky despite trying to sound calm.  
Nathan seemed to think about it for a moment. The light was only just enough to see by, and it glinted off Nathanaël's hair and skin, giving him an eerie greenish glow.

"I'm not sure. This... this has never happened to me before," Nath replied. He seemed calm on the outside,  but Marc got the feeling that Nath was just as scared as he was.

"Okay, uh, there has to be some sort of alarm in here, right?"  
Marc squinted at the panel of buttons next to the door. It was almost too dark to see them, the emergency lighting not helping much. After a minute or so trying to figure out which was the right button, Marc found the one with a little bell symbol and held it down.

He was greeted with static.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" he asked desperately. "Hello? Can you hear me?"

He let go of the button and slumped against the wall, letting himself slide to the ground.

_Don't panic, don't panic, don't panic._

They should have stayed home, rescheduled. They had known that there would be a storm; they could have avoided this.

Marc felt a gentle hand on his arm, and glanced up at Nath who had sat down in front of him.  
"Hey," Nathan said softly, his voice trembling ever so slightly. "We'll be okay. We're together. We're safe."

Pushing back the tears stinging his eyes, Marc nodded firmly. _They would get through this._

Okay.

"You okay?" he asked, and Nath smiled nervously with a slight nod.

It wasn't particularly convincing.

_Okay._

_This would be fine._

He exhaled slowly as Nathan repositioned himself. Marc reached into his bag and pulled out his phone, turning it on and checking for a phone signal.  
"No service," he said quietly. Honestly he wasn't sure what else he was expecting.

"I guess the storm messed with that too," Nath muttered, checking his own phone. Marc could tell by Nathanaël's grimace that he was no better off.

"What should we do?" Marc asked, fiddling with the strings of his hoodie. He already knew the answer; there was nothing they could do.

Nath shrugged. "Just wait, I guess." Then he laughed slightly, and shot Marc a halfhearted grin. "Some first date, huh?"

 _Date._  Marc couldn't help but smile. Sure, it was kind of a disaster, but they were actually on a date. A _date_  date.

Even if the date was being stuckin an elevator.

"It could be better, admittedly," he agreed, thinking carefully about what he wanted to say, and how he would say it. "But... I'm glad we're here together. Wait, that came out wrong. I'm not glad that we're stuck in an elevator, obviously. But I'm glad that I'm stuck with you. Wait, that's not what I-"

He felt Nathanaël's hand turn his face gently until their eyes met.

"I know what you mean," Nath whispered, and brought his face closer until their lips met. Marc felt his body relax as he leant into the kiss.

Okay, this wasn't so bad.

After a few seconds, Marc pulled away to smile at Nath. "I guess I could get used to this," he said, and Nathan laughed.

"Me too," the artist whispered, and reached a hand up to play with Marc's hair.

Marc closed his eyes. This wasn't exactly how he had expected their first date to go, but that was okay. He was glad he got to spend time with Nathanaël either way - even if he wasn't exactly sure what their relationship was. Was it too early to call Nathan his boyfriend?

Whatever, it didn't really matter right now.

What mattered was that they were together, and they were happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if there are typos im sorry i wrote this at 1am in a shakespearean rage 
> 
> OOF let's hope no one gets killed next chapter 
> 
>  ...
> 
> I'M JOKING i'm joking plz don't hurt me  
> 
> ahaha anyway, i hope u liked this chapter, and see ya next time!! ;D


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow I'm??? Actually updating???? :0 
> 
> Akdjajsjahd mostly thanks to the marcnath discord server, thanks guys u inspired me to Get Off My Ass And Do Something! So here i am akdjsjsjsksjaj
> 
> claustrophobia trigger warning perhaps?? if u read last chapter, well it isn't rlly any worse than that so u kinda know the drill

Chapter Nine

Marc was leaning against Nathanaël, his head resting on the artist's shoulder. He breathed gently, quietly. Nathanaël's eyes were closed, and his breathing was soft as well; he could be asleep, but Marc couldn't tell. Either way, he looked so peaceful, and Marc didn't want to disturb him.  
He reached a hand up, brushed Nathanaël's bangs out of his face, and pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead.

It had been a few hours, and it was torture.

It had only been a few hours. It could be a lot longer yet. But Marc was losing his mind.

He wasn't particularly claustrophobic, but every minute he spent in the elevator was more painful than the last. It felt like the walls were slowly, slowly closing in; not fast enough to be terrifying, but stirring an uneasy feeling into Marc's skin. The sickly green light didn't help. It made everything seem poisonous. Contaminated.

"Nath," he said quietly. "Are you awake?"

No response. He'd take that as a no, then.

Marc reached into his pocket and brought out his phone, and checked the time. It was getting really late. If things had gone to plan, he would robably be home by now. Maybe working on something for the next issue of their comic.  
There was still no signal, either. He couldn't even call home and explain why he was so late. He was started to get worried. What if they were stuck here all night? What if-

He shook his head, trying to shun the thought. Hopefully that wouldn't happen. Hopefully... hopefully they would get out soon. 

It had been almost five hours. If things had gone to plan, they would have eaten by now. But they hadn't, and Marc was getting tired and hungry. There was a cereal bar in his bag, he seemed to recall. Marc found it and took a bite, before thinking better of it and slipping it back into his bag.

_They might need it later, if they didn't get out soon._

Next to him, Nath stirred in his sleep, and then stretched a little, blinking his eyes slowly.

"Hmfgn," Nath mumbled, and rubbed his eyes. "Mm. What time is it?"

"Past seven."

"Wait, really? No way."

"Mhmm."

"Power's still out?"

"Yeah," Marc answered with a sigh. He took Nath's hand. "I'm glad you're awake. I was getting..."  
He trailed off.

Nathanaël squeezed his hand and leant into him. "You should've woken me. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Don't worry about it."

"Okay, if you're sure."

A moment passed in silence, and then Nath sighed. "It's getting kinda cold," he whispered.

"Yeah, it is," Marc whispered back. "We should, uh, I dunno. Cuddle? Like penguins. To, uh, keep warm."

_Well that was really fucking awkward._

Nathanaël giggled quietly and wrapped his arms around Marc. "Okay. Is this okay?"

"Perfect."

Marc felt his cheeks heating up. God, why did this have to be so awkward? They had hugged before. Heck, they had _kissed_ before. And this still felt so... new, and strange, and mildly embarrassing but absolutely wonderful. Nath was warm and soft and - he meant it, this was _perfect._

Despite the unpleasant situation, Marc was sure that there was no where he'd rather be right now.

Nath snorted. "Penguins."

"...What?"

"You're such an idiot," Nath whispered affectionately and hugged tighter. "I love you."

"I- I love you too," Marc stammered, blushing. He smiled to himself. "Let's just stay like this."

"Right! If we keep hugging, at least when they find our skeletons-"

_"Nath!"_

"-they'll know we were gay as fuck."

"You're such a dork, _oh my god."_

"I know. But... seriously, Marc, we'll get out of here. I know we will. I promise." 

Suddenly they were in darkness once more.

For a second, it was still, and silent.

And then, with a low whirring noise, the regular lights came back on.

Nathanaël grinned. "Told you so."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOF yeah that was uh fun akdjajd 
> 
> Also almost 500 kudos??? wtf guys why omg 
> 
> aldjkajsjshd real talk tho tysm for all your positive feedback and being super patient while i take 600 years to update,,,, 
> 
> anyways uhhhh see u next time!!!!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> more gay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'VE BEEN GONE 4 SO LONG I'M SO SORRY
> 
> THIS IS RLLY SHORT BUT,,, PLZ ACCEPT THIS CHAPTER

Chapter Ten

The power was back. It was fine, they were fine. Marc breathed out shakily, and laughed.   
"Okay," he said. "Okay, we're fine."

The two of them scrambled to their feet, eager to leave the elevator after being stuck in there for several hours. As Nathanaël went to press something on the button panel, Marc leant against the wall, relief flooding through his body.

They were fine.

A telltale ping came from the buttons where Nath was standing, and the elevator doors slid open. Marc went to join Nath at the doors, and the two of them looked out; they weren't exactly level with the floor, they were a few feet above the floor beneath them.

"It isn't a huge way down," Nath stated simply. "We could jump."

For some reason, jumping out of an elevator onto the floor of a shopping centre wasn't Marc's favourite concept ever - but it was better than staying in the damn lift any longer, so he nodded and sat on the edge, legs dangling off. He closed his eyes. This shouldn't be scary, right? It was an only a few feet.

_Just drop._

(His irrational nervousness could be something to do with the fact that there was a big drop beneath the actual elevator, and if the he somehow slipped or-)

(He didn't want to think about that.)

Just _drop._  It wasn't difficult.

(Oh shit oh shit oh shit-)

Marc dropped. And, by some miracle, landed on his feet.

He exhaled slowly as Nath landed next to him, still kind of jumpy from adrenaline, but also extremely relieved to be out of there.

"You okay?" Nath asked, and shot him a sheepish sort of grin.

"I'm fine." He was fine. They were both fine, it was fine. Marc smiled. "I'm great, I'm fine. I'm good. Fine. I'm fine. Yeah."

"So you're fine?"

"I'm fine."

The two of them burst into laughter, maybe at Marc's awkwardness, maybe from relief of finally being out, maybe from the weirdness of the entire situation. Whatever. They were safe, and that was the main thing.

"Hey," Nathan said quietly, and smiled at Marc. "Do you think the pretzel stand is still open?"

Marc laughed slightly. "Maybe. Wanna go see?"

"Yeah." Nath paused. "Marc?"

"Yeah?"

"Let's take the stairs."

***

Marc didn't sleep properly for a week. Every night was the same, his head filled with nightmares. Being stuck in small spaces. Those awful, eerie green lights.

The worst part was that Nathanaël wasn't there with him.

***

For once in his life, Marc found himself looking forward to school more than anything. School was where he got to spend the most time with Nath, and that was all he really wanted.

***

"'Sup," Nath said in his ear, and Marc jumped.

 _"Oh sweet baby Jesus you have_ got _to stop doing that,"_  he muttered, and turned around to glare at his- at Nathan.

"What're you doing?"

"Writing."

Nath pulled himself up to sit on the table, legs swinging. "What're you writing?"

"Stuff."

* _"Marc,"_ Nath groaned, rolling his eyes, but smiling slightly. "Tell meee!"

Marc let out a quiet laugh and shut his notebook. "I'm not legally obligated to do that."

"What? Why?!"

Nathan sounded genuinely startled, which made Marc laugh again. "Oh my god, Nath, I'm _joking,_  dummy. But I'm still not going to show you."

"Why not?" Nath asked, but then paused, frowning. "Jeez, are you okay? You look like shit."

"Wow, thanks."

"No- no, I didn't mean it like that, I just- you look tired, man. Did you sleep last night?"

"Yes. No." Marc groaned and rested his arms on the table, and then rested his head on his arms. "I don't know. I've been having bad dreams. I just... there's so much going on right now, y'know? With school and homework and _everything_ and- I don't know. I'm just so tired."

"Okay, you need to take it easy. Just focus on one thing at a time. Listen... why don't we take a break from our comic? It'll give us some more time to work on our overall plot, y'know?"

"I love working on our comic, though," Marc said quietly.

"Me too. But if you're overwhelmed with school stuff, it's probably sensible to take a break."

Marc groaned again. "Ugh. I hate that you're right."

At this, Nath laughed slightly, kicking his legs, seemingly deep in thought. "Is there anything else on your mind?"

Marc took a moment to think about it. Yeah. The elevator thing had been bothering him. But not just that. Him and Nath were getting closer, and it still felt so awkward- but it was also so right, so _natural._ Like they were meant to be together.

"Yeah." He took a deep breath. "I think- I think I'm ready to-... I want to be your boyfriend."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :O
> 
> MARC!!!!!
> 
> WHAT'S NATH GONNA SAY?? WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN????
> 
> FIND OUT NEXT CHAPTER WHich will probably take me 7 years to write,
> 
> THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING!! whilst i've been on hiatus y'all,,,, people have been reading this apparently??? It's got a lot of kudos since i left and i'm very grateful!!!!


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> so very gay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guys... guys
> 
> this might be it... the final chapter...
> 
> i honestly didn't have a plan for how this would end, but i'm about ready to finish it now without any more angst or whatever, just some nice wholesome stuff :')
> 
> chances are i'll probably do an epilogue since this chapter is really short- maybe a slightly longer epilogue of like 2k words or something?? but yeah i do feel like we're reaching the end now, so.... yeah :'))))
> 
> before we get into this chapter i just want to say a huge thank you to all of you for the positivity and support you've given me throughout the writing of this fic. genuinely i'm so surprised (haha get it. surprised haha funny) to see so many people giving feedback and stuff and just. uGh just thank you !!!! honestly i'm so so grateful for all your kindness!!! <3
> 
> ...and now THAT mushy stuff is out of the way,, time to get onto the REAL mushy stuff ;)

Chapter Eleven

"Oh," Nathanaël said. Realisation bloomed across his face and he bit his lip. _"Oh."_

It wasn't exactly the reaction Marc was expecting. Okay, he wasn't sure what he _had been_ expecting, but... _'oh'?_  That was bad, right?

For a solid minute, Marc regretted everything.

And then Nath grinned. "Really? You- you'd really be okay with that? Like... it wouldn't be weird?"

Marc ducked his head a little, lifting his hands to his face, trying to hide the fact that he was blushing like mad. "I mean, it doesn't have to be weird," he mumbled through his fingers. "I mean, I just thought... it would be nice to be... boyfriends."

Nathan's face lit up, and he kicked his legs happily. "Yes! I mean, I'd- yeah- yes! Let's- boyfriends, yeah!"

Marc couldn't help laughing slightly at Nath's- at his _boyfriend's_  enthusiasm.

Boyfriend.

_Boyfriend boyfriend boyfriend._

It was strange, in a way, but it felt right. And anyway, nothing had to change. Not really. It was just a little more... _official_ now.

"So, _boyfriend of mine,"_ Nathanaël said, grinning, "is it alright if I kiss you now?"

 _Boyfriend._ What a wonderful thing to be called.

Marc nodded. "Absolutely."

He couldn't help but grin against Nath's lips as they met his, because _they were boyfriends now,_ and it felt so great. And he'd had the confidence to ask Nathanaël. He, Marc Anciel, the literal most awkward and shy person in the entire world, had asked Nath to be his boyfriend. Nath, who flirted with him and acted so cool and confident.

The door opened suddenly, and the two of them broke apart to see who had entered. Marinette stood in the doorway, looking mildly surprised.

"Oh," she said. "I'm sorry, I didn't realise you guys were in here."

"It's okay," Marc replied, painfully aware that Marinette probably knew that they had been kissing. It was, like, so obvious. They were sitting there in optimal kissing positions and  _oh god this was very awkward._

Marinette pointed out of the door. "Do you want me to...?"

"No, no, it's fine," Nath answered, "you can come in here."

"Are you two...?" 

"Boyfriends," Nath and Marc said at the same time, and then dissolved into giggles. It was so strange, but so so good. And suddenly Marc didn't feel awkward anymore, because he and Nath were together, and that was freaking awesome!

Marinette beamed. "Really? Wow, that's awesome! I'm so happy for you guys!"

As she went to a table to get her latest sewing project out, Nath turned back to Marc and kissed him again, taking him by surprise.

"You're so pretty," Nathan whispered, grinning.

Marc blushed, taking in Nath's messed up hair and sparkling eyes and- was that Marc's pink lip gloss on his lips? Yeah. Whoops. It kind of suited him, anyway. _"You're_  pretty, dumbass," Marc said.

"You're my favourite boyfriend."

"I'm your _only_ boyfriend."

"Yeah, well, you're my favourite."

"You're my favourite, too." Marc grinned. "I love you."

They kissed again, and as they parted, Nath smiled softly. "I love you too."

It was perfect. They were together, and it was perfect. A few weeks ago, Marc would have never even imaged this as a possibility. He never really planned this.

But things generally never go to plan, and surprises happen.

And sometimes, that's a good thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... 
> 
> :)


End file.
